Hamilton fastest on Day 1 testing at Bahrain

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport completed 97 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit, as the first in-season test of 2017 kicked off in Bahrain on Tuesday.

Lewis Hamilton was behind the wheel of the W08 EQ Power+ and ended the day top of the timesheets, clocking a 1:31.358 on the Soft compound Pirelli tire late in the afternoon.

• Today's program focused on evaluating new parts to be introduced over the next few races, aerodynamic analysis and setup work to address issues with poor rear grip in Sunday's race
• Mercedes-Benz Power Units today completed a total of 1,402km
• Valtteri will take the wheel of the W08 tomorrow for the second and final day of the test

Lewis Hamilton
Today was tricky with it being so hot and very gusty but we still managed to get through plenty of work. Our focus was on advancing our understanding of the tires and also the rear of the car so that we can improve our long runs – particularly during the race and on the SuperSoft compound. We came here with a specific goal, so it was positive to get on top of that with the team. Sochi is a smoother track and less abrasive on the tires, so they can go quite a long way. Hopefully we can rely on the pace of our car there rather than our use of the tires.

Sebastian Vettel was running a separate test for Pirelli, hence he is listed with the Pirelli team, not Ferrari.